TornadoLookup

Home / Oklahoma / Pottawatomie

EF1 tornado in Pottawatomie County, Oklahoma

Tornado April 26, 2024 · Pottawatomie County, Oklahoma

EF1
Rating
1.9 mi
Path length
75 yd
Path width
$5K
Damage as recorded
EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 75 yards (0.04 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What EF1 means. On the Enhanced Fujita scale, EF1 is moderate damage: roofs badly stripped, mobile homes pushed off foundations or overturned, windows broken, consistent with estimated gusts of 86–110 mph. The rating comes from a survey of the worst damage after the storm, not from a wind measurement, so it says as much about what the tornado hit as about how strong it was.

What the National Weather Service wrote

Two nearly-simultaneous tornadoes occurred in northwestern Pottawatomie County from a QLCS storm. The second tornado developed just inside Cleveland County before moving quickly into Pottawatomie County. Trees were snapped and a house received damage to shingles along and just east of the county line in Pottawatomie County. The tornado moved generally northeast producing tree damage and it may have merged with the first tornado near Fishmarket Road and Oakridge Lane. The tornado continued northeast for a little over 0.5 miles continuing to produce tree damage until it dissipated east of Lakewood Circle.

The wider storm

During the early morning of the 26th, ahead of a strong upper wave passage, a quasi-linear convective system (QLCS) developed across portions of central into eastern Oklahoma. Despite strong kinematics (wind shear) in place, the initial phase of the linear complex was rather benign (in terms of severe weather outcomes). However, as the complex overspread the Interstate 35 corridor, organization increased rapidly, including the development of several strong mesovortices. A cluster of weak tornadoes and wind damage occurred across portions of east-central Oklahoma, associated with these mesovortices. By the afternoon, while stronger synoptic support had lifted into portions of the Missouri Valley, strong convergence along a trailing boundary/pseudo-dryline promoted development of a few transient storms. A report of small hail was received with one of these storms across Seminole County.

Began near Dale (35.3520, -97.1430).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

5 more tornadoes the National Weather Service filed under this storm episode.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 1173243. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

Tornadoes near your address

See every tornado that passed near a place you know, measured to its path.